Dental scaler



T. W. ONDERDONK.

DENTAL SCALER.

APPLICATION FILED AuG.2o, 1921.

Patented Apr. 11, 1922.

I N VEN TOR.

ATTORNEYS fromthe following description and draw- Tuoi/uis w. oivnnnnoivi, vor Nnwvoim, iv, Y..

igiiaiso. f

Specification of itteis lfatent. i Patented 11,

Application led August 20,1921. Serial No'.A 493,898.

To all whom t may concern.'

i Y Be ity known that I, THOMAS VONDER- DoNii,"a citizen of the United States, residing` at New York'city, inthe county of New York and State. of New York, have lin'vented certain new and useful Improvements in Dental Sealers, of which thefolf lowing is a specification.

kMy present` invention relates to dental instruments, particularly dental scalers used .forcleaning pyorrhea pockets around teeth,

although certain-features of my invention may be applied to dental instruments used for other purposes. v,

lyinveiition will best be understood ings, in which Figure 1 shows an illustrative form of a dental sealer, embodying my inventiong'liig 2 an enlarged side elevation,

partly in section, ofthe instrument shown Ain-'Figj1,v llig. 3 a'sidewiew of Fig. 2 with some' of the parts removed, and F ig. 4. a fragmentary view showing a modification.

'n the several views the'jsaine reference eharacters'refer to the same parts.

l vIn the illustrative forni of my invention, the` device is made up of the tool Yand a handle therefor, the parts being arranged so that the toolV may. be 'adjusted in various positions in the handle in the manner to be described hereinafter. The handle, in the form illustrated, comprises a tube 10 through which extends a rod 11 having a threaded portion 12 at its lower end engaged by a nut 13 contacting with the lower end of the tube 10,

At the opposite end of the rod 11 isA a head 14 through which projects a pin 15 on which is mounted apair of clamping jaws 16,17. The lower portions or necks of these jaws are made tapering and the upper end of the tube 10 is alsotapered, so that when the nut 13 is turned todraw the rod 11 downward in the tube 10, the jaws 1G, 17 are drawn into the tube 10 to force the jaws together.

The Scaler tool which 'I have adopted for purposes of illustration, has a Vshank or extends substantially parallel to the axisof the shank 18 and ofthe cylindrical portlon 'Y j. .l i Y I The jaws'f16, 17,.in the illustrative form,

'are provided with pair offopposed hemispherical recesses 23 ladapted to receivethe I hall 21 on the end of thetool'.' These jaws Aare also provided with opposed gripping faces which are substantiallycircular, and whichrprefera-bly are .provided with a pluralityv ofradial recesses 25 arranged toV `receive .theV cylindrical portion 2O of the tool.

As many of these recesses 25 as are l,desired may beformed in. the faces 24.

VInstead of forming these definite recesses 25each capable of enclosing substantially one-half of the cylindrical portion. 20, I mayY i Iprovide the faces 211 `with a-series of radialY notches 26as`shown in Fig. et.' A j lVith the parts `in the Vposition shownin Figs. 2 and 3,.it will be obvious that when f'' V V therodfllis drawn downward in the tube 10, .the;jawsl6, 17 will clamp the cylindrical f portion 2O to grip they tool frictionally. VVIf' f desired, therecess 23 may also be formedso that itfwill aidV in this gripping action, a'l-Y f though this is not essential, reliance-in such case being placed on the gripping effect around the 'I cylindrical portionl only. Ohviously, by opening the jaws, the tool may he set in yany one of theY recesses 25, or in any one of the notches 26,7when thelatter construction isV used. Tliiswillchange thev angle of the axis of the tool in relation to the handle 10. Furthermore,by reason of the frictional grip on the tool and the relation of the working face 19 to the axis thereof, itV will alsoybe apparent that by turning theJ tool on the axis of the cylin. drical portion 20, the plane ofthe working face 19 may be rotated around the axis 'ofi the tool, so that such plane can be'brought Y into any ldesired relation to the handleilO. Such rotation'will preferably be caused by [engaging the tool with some sort of a` holder, such as the handle lof the usual In use, the operator will set-the tool in aV desired position, such'as that .illustrated in Fig. 1, and will'clamp it there.

finds it desirable to changethe angle of the working face of the handle 10, he may, without removing the mirror from the patients Y Then vas he works around the pyorrhea cavity and sob mouth, engage the tool with the end of the mirror handle and rotate it against the friction of the jaws 16, 17 to the new desired position. In other words, the frictional pressure from the jaws 16, 17 is suicient to hold the tool in working position, but this Jfriction can be overcome by the use of a holder engaging the tool, so that the plane of the working tace in relation to the axis ot the handle 10 can be readily adjusted lwithout disturbing the clamps for the tool.

Preferably, I provide the ball 21, but any other form of enlargement of the end of Vthe tool will be sutiicient to prevent the tool `from dropping out ofthe jaws when the latter are opened, so that the tool may be moved from one of the slots 25 to another, and also to insure that in working in a patients mouth, the tool will not be drawn lengthwise out of the clamping jaws.

l/Vhile I have shown flat-tened parts of the shank as a ready means by which the tool may be engaged and rotated on its axis, it will be understood that such iattened parts are not-necessary, and that the tool may be rotatedV by engagement with any rother portion or by any means other than the slot in the end of the handle of the dentalmirror, which I prefer.

1. A dental sealer comprising a tool hav- Y ing a cylindrical portion, and a working face extending substantially parallel to the axis of the cylindrical portion, and a handle having means to grip said cylindrical portion and hold the tool in operative position rictionally, said tool having a portion adapted to be engaged by a holder, whereby the tool may be rotated on the axis of the cylindrical portion while gripped in the handle.

2. A dental instrument comprising a tool having a cylindrical portion, a handle having a pair oi clamping jaws with a plurality of radially arranged, opposed cavities therein, each set of opposed cavities being adapted to grip said cylindrical portion when the jaws are closed, and means to close the jaws.

3. A dental instrument comprising a tool having a cylindrical portion, an enlargement at the end adjacent the cylindrical portion, a handle having a pair of clamping jaws with substantially parallel, circular, opposed gripping faces adapted to engage said cylindrical portion therebetween and opposed cavities adapted to receive said enlargement, and means to close the jaws.

4. A dental instrument comprising a tool having a cylindrical portion, an enlarge- THOMAS w. oNDERno-NK.

ment at the end adjacent the cylindrical 

